Vehicles, such as automobiles, may become disabled during a trip as a result of, for example, a vehicle malfunction, a flat tire, and/or an accident. When these events occur, many drivers and/or passengers will attempt to call a tow truck company for assistance. In some cases, people do not know the name and/or telephone number of a tow truck company. This may be especially true when people travel outside a region they usually travel. With the proliferation of smartphones (and other portable devices), many people can now look up the names and telephone numbers of tow truck companies. Still, people may have difficulty determining which tow truck company is closest to the vicinity where there vehicle is disabled. Even if a person is able to determine the closest to tow truck company based on its address, this might not be an accurate indication of the closest available tow truck or which tow truck could respond the quickest. For example, a tow truck company nearest a disabled vehicle might not have a tow truck ready to provide assistance. Also, depending on the situation, certain equipment or skilled tow truck operators may be needed. Therefore, the closest tow truck might not always be able to provide the fastest solution.
A disabled vehicle can be a stressful situation, and thus, some drivers and passengers have previously signed up for, and/or pre-paid for, roadside assistance services, such as ONSTAR, services offered by dealerships, and/or services offered by car clubs (e.g., AAA). Despite these organizations, there is still a demand for fast and reliable roadside assistance. When people call for a tow truck, they would like an assurance that the tow truck will arrive within a certain period of time, so they are not waiting in limbo. Some, or all, organizations might not be capable of offering such an assurance because they do not own their own fleet of tow trucks and/or because it would be too costly to maintain a large enough fleet. Those organizations that rely on outside companies to supply the tow trucks and employ the tow truck operators may particularly have difficulty providing such an assurance because the time it takes to find an available and suitable tow truck once a request for service is received may significantly vary.
Accordingly, new systems, devices, methodologies, and software are desired to strategically place service vehicles and deploy the proper vehicle to assist customers (e.g., drivers and/or passengers of disabled vehicles).